Observers with IFAW
(International Fund for Animal Welfare – www.ifaw.org) have just returned after
witnessing the slaughter of harp seal pups during this year’s commercial seal
hunt.

“We witnessed today a classic
example of the cruelty associated with this hunt. An injured, bleeding seal
escaped into the water before a sealer could get to it. The sealer tried to pull
the seal out by the hind flippers but it slipped underwater anyway,” said Cheryl
Jacobson, hunt observer with IFAW.

Canada’s
commercial seal hunt is the largest hunt for marine mammals in the world.
Sealers are allowed to kill 280,000 harp seal pups this year, provided they have
begun to molt their white coats, which occurs when the animals are about two
weeks old.

“It’s preposterous that the
Canadian government insists on moving forward with this hunt.” said Sheryl Fink,
a senior researcher with IFAW.

“This is truly a historic moment – a moment that marks the
beginning of the inevitable end to Canada’s commercial seal hunt,” said
Sheryl Fink, a senior researcher with IFAW. “Senator Harb has shown incredible
leadership&nbsp;and courage&nbsp;by speaking out on behalf of the majority of
Canadians on this issue.”

The bill is an amendment to the Fisheries Act and would
prohibit the commercial hunting of seals in Canadian waters, while protecting
the rights of aboriginal peoples to hunt seals.

MEPs from the IMCO (Internal
Market and Consumer Protection) Committee, today voted overwhelmingly in favor
of a ban on the trade in seal products without any derogations, and with the
only exemption for products from traditional Inuit seal hunts.

"The plan released today is a bad deal for
whales and international efforts to protect them" said Patrick Ramage, IFAW
Global Whale Program Director.&nbsp; "It
would lift the commercial whaling moratorium; give new rights to the Government
of Japan to kill protected whales, and permit illegal, high-seas whaling to
continue.&nbsp; Rather than compromising
hard-won conservation measures and finding ways for whaling to expand, the IWC
and its member governments should be negotiating the terms under which Japan,
Norway and Iceland will end their commercial whali

Outgoing Fisheries and
Agriculture Minister, Einar K Gudfinnsson, recently granted commercial whaling
quotas of up to 150 endangered fin whales and 100 minke whales a year for the
next five years. Iceland’s new
Fisheries Minister, Steingrimur J Sigfusson, today announced these catch
allowances would remain for one year instead of five, and despite only a limited
domestic market for minke whales and no domestic market for fin whales.

IFAW opposes whaling because it
is cruel, unnecessary and unsustainable.

Rangers had trailed the poacher
and his accomplice for 17 hours on foot, according to area warden Josphat Erupe.
“We noticed one poacher on top of a tree but he jumped down and vanished. We
only became aware that there was a second man when he opened fire at our rangers
from behind the tree but he was shot and killed in the ensuing
battle.”

According to unnamed sources in
KWS, elephant poaching rose by over 60 per cent in Kenya&nbsp;from 2007 to 2008.

“IFAW is grateful to eBay for taking this important step
forward for elephant conservation. By setting the bar with a global ban on
ivory, eBay is proving to be an example for both governments and online dealers
to also take a stand on one of today’s most critical wildlife issues – Internet
trade,” said Barbara Cartwright, IFAW Campaigns Manager.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC),
responsible for whale conservation, is holding a three-day Small Working Group
meeting in Cambridge from Monday with delegates from
around 24 countries expected to attend.

The announcement was
made as part of a campaign IFAW and Taobao collaboratively initiated to combat
online wildlife crime. In the unprecedented collaboration, IFAW and
Taobao.com share information about online illegal wildlife trade and jointly
raise consumer awareness about the detrimental impact wildlife trade has on
species in the wild.

Asia is the main market for shark fin products.
In major cities in China, shark fin soup is readily
available on the menu in restaurants.